Arabian Prince
by Rakusa
Summary: Darien married Serena, but he forgot the concequences of marrying an outsider and now it has come back to haunt him as he's sent for home to deal with an uprising. Present day. I will update, I promise, just not now...
1. Prologue

The sand rushed at him as he attempted to cross the desert upon horseback. He wrapped the garment of equal color to the sand more securely over his lower face and fixed the upper portion to protect his eyes at the same time to see more clearly in the distance.

He hastened his gallant steed to a faster gallop. He had to hurry. The love of his life hung in a delicate balance between certain death and a life forever with him. She was in the hands of his enemy. A cruel man that could not be trusted to keep his word.

As he finally entered the outskirts of the faraway city, he looked straight ahead; never giving the impression that he knew somebody else was following him. He pulled the clever white Arabian to a complete stop in front of his enemy's palace. There were no doors to the entrance of the palace, but he was not foolish enough to leave it unguarded.

A man in black robes walked out of the palace. "So Omura you chose to show." The man looked down the multiple stairs at Omura in an almost scared but mainly superior attitude.

"Yes I have Higen, now hand her over." Omura demanded clipping the arrogance out to make sure he didn't make Higen mad enough to make rash decisions.

"Do you have what I want?" Higen questioned sidestepping an answer to the most obvious question from Omura.

"Yes." Omura answered just as vague as Higen. The wind whipped off Omura's top portion of his sou'wester to reveal a head full of lush black hair, looking soft enough to want to run a hand through nonstop. There wasn't a stray gray hair on his young head.

"How old are you again, Omura?" Higen taunted descending the coral steps one at a time. Omura bit his tongue from lashing out at the older man. "And already a prince, hmm…" Higen mused. "So, answer the question."

"As you already know the answer, why should I?" Omura bit out cautiously.

Higen clicked his tongue. "Temper, temper, young man. That's not the way to speak to an elder, especially one that has an upper hand over you."

"Just because your older, doesn't mean your wiser or anywhere near as good as me, you know what they say, old age breeds slowness." It was rash, Omura knew, but anything less and Higen would start to suspect something else more than love was guiding him.

"You know, your future bride is very pretty, such a rarity in this part of the world." Higen reflected. "I wouldn't mind taking her for myself, except she has such a quick temper, just like you, the little spit fire. She won't last long here; perhaps you should take her back to her world. That is, if you behave yourself and do not anger me past my revenge and grudge against you."

"She has never done anything to you, let her go." Omura demanded. "She is an innocent and doesn't deserve this treatment."

"Wrong!" Higen shouted righteously. "She is no innocent, she knew what she was getting into by agreeing to marry you. She knows what you imply, what dangers she'd be in and while in my captive she expressed her anger in a way only a future queen would."

"She didn't know about you." Omura denied. "She agreed to marriage while still in another country unknowing about my lineage. As for her attitude, she was of high family in the third country, she knows how to act because of that. She is truly an innocent."

"Then it is your fault." Higen raised his nose aristocratically. "Now hand over what I want, and you will get what you want."

"I would like to see her first." Omura hedged.

They were finally face to face as Higen stepped to the last of the stairs. "Follow me." He said simply, not batting an eyelash in hesitancy.  
Higen turned to his left and walked around the palace building, there in the middle of the square was Omura's love, he started for her but Higen cut him off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why-" He stopped his sentence as he saw exactly why he shouldn't head for her, she was on a pedestal and around her neck was a small rope that almost looked like a thick necklace.

"It may not break her neck as fast as any other would do, but it will definitely strangle her slowly, and you will watch." Omura cast his eyes around slowly of the square looking for something to use to help him if things went sour. Higen smirked at the action; he knew what Omura was thinking. But all that was around the square were buildings and a little further off was the mountainside.

Omura ignored his little dig, and looked back at his love, who finally saw him. They locked eyes briefly and in hers was a terror that made his gut clench. He knew he was terrified for her life, he knew that all along, but he didn't know how much he buried his extent of terror until this moment.

He tried to keep his eyes from showing his fear, to keep her from getting even more concerned, but he should have known she would pick it up because suddenly the terror in her eyes were gone. A quick determinacy replaced her earlier feelings, as she tried to be strong for him. She was always the most receptive person he knew, and that was one of the reasons why he trusted her and her decisions so fully.  
He tore his eyes away from her and looked behind her at the man leaning against the pole that held the rope around her neck. At any moment with an agreement from the man next to Omura and he'd kick the stool out underneath her.

Omura looked to see if she could find a way to slow the process down, but her arms were behind her back and another rope tied her arms to her sides. Omura swallowed slowly to make sure his nervousness didn't show to any one else as he turned to look at the man next to him.

If he had been the one in danger and about to die, he wouldn't be nearly as worried. He would have looked at it calmly as it was his turn to die if he couldn't get out of it. But with her life in his hands, everything complicated and became at once more important. "Bring her down and I'll give you what it is you want."

Higen shook his head. "You are in no position to make demands. Give me what I want, and you will take her down yourself."

"You will ensure safe passage out of the city and call off all your men following me and promise that you will not attack us again."

"I promise." Higen said quickly, a knowing smirk residing on his face. Omura didn't quite believe him, but it was better than nothing.

Omura sent one last look at his love. She mouthed the words "don't do it" in the language of her people, one only he had learned through months living in her country to try and set up a peaceful agreement with her ruler.

"I only have so long until my patience runs out. I had given you 2 days to get it and come with it to us." Higen cut through Omura's thoughts as he tried to speak with her of the unimportance of it compared to her.

"All right." Omura turned his head back to Higen, his eyes trained on both him and his love as he dug in his pocket for the object. Quietly he handed it over to Higen. "You got what you wanted, now call your people off."

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	2. Chapter 1

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"You have to tell us the rest of the story!" A young girl demanded of the older man.

Omura smiled in his old wrinkled face, almost four generations had passed since the story began. "Dear child, you will receive the rest of the story once there is time to tell it. Right now is not the time for we have dinner to get to."

He tried to stand up, but failed and instantly three young men came to his side to help him. "Grandpa, I wish you wouldn't strain yourself, we can bring food in for you." One of the older men disciplined, there were a few gray hairs on his head already. Omura waved off his concern, instead brushing a free hand through his still soft mainly gray hair, there was no white stands gracing his full head of hair.

"There's no need for me to inconvenience all of you and have you wait on me, I had enough of that while I was ruling. Now it is in your command, and soon it will be in my great-grandson's, he's coming of age, even though he's against it happening." The old man shook his head in disappointment while his great-grandson objected to the comments.

They all exited the white tent to go across the sandy grounds to the palace's stone building. The last one out was Omura's great-grandson and a young woman with shinning blond hair that stayed quiet throughout the story and afterwards. She was sitting outside the tent during the story and when it ended she entered a side door and stayed in the shadows while they talked. She had yet to be introduced to the old man.

"Are you all right?" The man asked her, drawing closer to her.

She snapped out of her reverend silence. "Sorry." She said sheepishly. "I was lost deep in my thoughts." She brightened as she closed the distance between them and spoke in her own language so nobody could over hear her. "I think somebody takes after their great-grandfather. The way he spoke I can tell where you get your ability to spin stories. Mr. I'm not important, I'm just a business man from a hot country." She teased. "You never told me that one day you'd be a sheik, a very handsome, strong sheik."

"That I get from a long line of sheiks previous of me? Aren't you worried that you'll ruin the line?" He ran his nose across her cheek as he whispered the tease. "By the way, most of the people here speak English, it was something that Omura imposed during his rule. The wise man knew we'd be dealing with your people a lot in the coming years." He purred in her ear. "I take after him more than you could possibly know." He nipped her lower earlobe.

"We should perhaps be getting to dinner, I think they'll be missing their young up and coming hero." She winked.

"All right, come, I'll introduce you to everybody." He tugged her hand, and she followed, she wasn't introduced earlier, in fact she was smuggled in to the city so nobody would mention her today. He had said that it was enough to be watching him get such a huge welcome home from his people without her adding to it. She didn't realize she'd be the only blond in the whole country. But he was right, it was overpowering how much the people lavished his return and she didn't want to add to the confusion.

Now that everything settled down, he was more prepared to deal with the chaos she'd entitle. She was wrapped securely in his arm as they crossed the street, those still out getting back to their homes all stopped and stared at the two of them. "Is it because I'm blond?" She asked him.

"Kind of." He refused to elaborate in the middle of the street with everybody watching, she'd find out soon enough anyways.

"What happened to your grandfather?" She asked calmly, uncaring of the attention now that her question was answered. She was fine with them staring at her because she was blond.

"He died shortly after my father was born, my uncle died too because of the heat. It was only my mother, father and great-grandfather still living when I was born." He answered her.

"So Omura was like your grandfather?" She smiled, she had a perchance towards grandfather figures because that was the one that raised her.

"Enough about my grandfather right now." He whispered tightening his arm. "I'd rather be talking about us."

"You don't like to talk about us." She reminded him lightheartedly.

"Enough." He shrugged off any more argument.

They entered the dinning room, and nobody paid it any attention because they were used to his late entrance habits and also not used to him being back yet. So this gave her time to look around Omura was sitting at the head of the table and his grandson and granddaughter-in-law- were sitting to both sides of him. Next to the granddaughter-in-law was the little girl from earlier with brown hair. There were a few other kids sitting next to her and on the opposite side she guessed were their parents. At the other end of the table was an empty spot for the recently returned prince.

Suddenly a gasp was audible and everybody froze in what they were doing to stare at the two latecomers. A few were staring at his arm around her waist, and a few were staring at her. But the most intense gaze came from Omura himself as he regarded her silently. She was the first to break the silence and she directed her comment to the man next to her. "Darien why are they all staring at us, at me and it's not because I'm a blond?" She was too receptive to believe that anymore, maybe outside it was true, but not in here, from the way they were staring the fact that she was a blond was low of the outrage scale. She had asked this in their language, aware of the fact that he had told her that they understood English perfectly and knew it would be a better impression to attempt their language instead.

Darien didn't have the time to answer as just as suddenly a chair was scrapping the cement floors. "How dare you!" She was shocked to see Darien's father was the one to be shouting at him.

Darien calmly removed his arm, in no hurry to explain anything and not caring the least in the scandal he was making. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Serena, my wife." He looked directly at his father. "It would be of the utmost respect to be kind to her. For it isn't only our ways you offend, but also hers."

"I don't care." His father bit out. "This is not meant to be, you have shown the greatest disrespect to not only your leader, but also your family."

"Herr sheik." Serena apologized with a tint of German to her words, still not used to speaking Arabian or English again; she corrected herself to speak Arabian once more. "I apologize for any inconveniences I must present with my untimely entrance. I assure you that I did not mean to cause any problems by arriving unexpectedly." She deliberately misunderstood the problem; she'd have a row with Darien after tonight about all his lies, omissions and inability to tell her exactly what she was getting into.

"We met in Germany." Prince Darien explained easily.

"Oh." The Sheik settled back into his chair. "Forgive me girl, if you were anything else we would have had complications."

Darien hid his smirk slowly, he was proud of his wife, he wasn't sure how she'd act in face of his family, and he still wasn't sure how'd she take this once everything was out in the open, but he knew he was in trouble. It was too bad really that he got called away so early from his designation if he had more time, they would have been on their honeymoon now instead of meeting his family. He did wonder if it would have been easier meeting hers.

He looked again at his father, Omura was beckoning Serena to his side and Serena was moving hesitantly. He gave her a nudge in that direction, nodded yes to the question in her eyes and she moved faster. "Serena is not European, father." Darien stated. "In fact, she is very American. I only met her in Germany early this year. She has been living in Koln for the last two years finishing her foreign relationships university degree and working for a translator until she could register for a diplomatic degree with the American Embassy in Germany. You see, she will forever be an American girl."

The Chair was knocked over this time and Serena almost jumped. "You will be the death of her!" The man shouted again pointing a finger at her. "You knew it was forbidden to marry an American. It is the worst thing you could have possibly done. Even loving an American would surely bring unexpected perils to her!"

"Father sit down!" Darien for the first time raised his voice. "You are being rude to her, and it is only an old wives tale that Omura tells all the time. There is no truth in the story. I love Serena, and I would have married her if she were Higen's great-granddaughter. Nothing could have stopped this marriage, it was meant to be!"

"Enough!" A firm voice came from the ageless old man. "Shane sit down and relax, Darien, introduce the rest of the people to her."

Darien came over to Serena. "Sere, you see the loud and obnoxious man over there is Shane, my father. My mother is Toga; she was born and raised in the desert with the nomads. So she doesn't speak much English, but she can understand most of what you say." Serena smiled at the woman and nodded her head politely at Shane.

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you." Serena greeted in Arabic.

"The girl is of no importance." Darien said straight-faced.

"Hey!" She whined. "You're not very nice to me!" She positioned her head so she could look at Serena better. "I never knew my old brother would marry such a pretty woman, you rival that of those that come before you."

Serena was confused at what that meant. "Would you like to elaborate on that?"

"Sure, I've only seen a few blonds in my life on TV when we can tap into the satellite from the U.S. and they were very pretty."  
Serena blushed at the wayward compliment. "Thank you." The girl meant that she rivaled those of the movie star good look variety. "What would your name be, Darien has been rather vague about his family. He didn't even tell me that he had a sister."

"Oh, now I know how I rate on his scale." The girl pouted, Darien tweaked a strand of her hair and winked. "I'm Gabrielle, named because of my hair, I was the lightest here until you showed up so I got a not so Arabic name."

Serena bit her lip. "I'm sorry?" She ventured, she didn't want to make anyone feel less than special.

"Don't be, now I will have somebody to share the burden of being different. Plus, you can tell me all about growing up in the United States." Gabrielle spieled off in English. "And about spending two years in Germany. I was told I can go visit another country when I'm old enough."

"Ok." Serena grinned highly amused. Darien pinched her butt unexpectedly and Serena jumped and turned to look at him, he gave her an innocent smile, nobody else had seen it either. She gave him an 'I'll get back at you' look before he went on to introduce everybody else.

"Last butt." He paused for effect only she knew the joke to. "Definitely not least is Omura." Darien introduced. "You'll meet some of the high politicians later."

"Pleasant to meet you Sheik Omura." Serena smiled warmly as she nodded her head in greeting. One thing Darien learned was that when Serena met rulers she may dress up for the occasion, but she did not curtsy, she only nodded her head in acknowledgement of their high power in their country.

"I like her." Omura stated abruptly. "Serena, call me Omura, everybody else does, the title of Sheik only belongs to my Grandson right now." Omura sent a look in Darien's direction. "But now I can see why he's been so adamant about taking over the role, he's had such a nice young girl he's wanted to see the world with this last year."

"And we're going to be seeing the world for many years to come." Darien cut it. "Dad is still young enough to rule this country, we can be the diplomats that visit other countries for him still. I do not want to be tied down to this country at such a young age."

Serena smoothly cut through his torment. "Darien, this is not the time nor place to be arguing about that now. I have just met your family and they have just met me, your wife, I'm sure it's a shock to all." Serena stated politely in English, so everybody knew that she was serious enough to revert back to something that they didn't know as well, but well enough.

Toga made a noise then spoke up with rapid Arabic with an outsider's dialect. "This is right!" She exclaimed. "We haven't welcomed her properly. We must give her a gigantic welcoming to the people and then we will have a party to celebrate her arrival, along with my son's then we must have them remarry in the Arabic ways. After that we will have another party that lasts the traditional week."

Serena tried to follow all of it, but could only make out bits and pieces like party, wedding and week. Wide eyed she turned to Darien and spoke in even faster German so nobody could understand her but Darien who was used to this speed from his new wife. "A week long wedding, na-ah, no way, I can't possibly be expected to survive a week being so new to this weather and, and, I'm not good in huge groups for nearly so long." Serena continued her complaint.

Darien tried to get a word in edge wise in German to sooth her, but she kept talking in her nervous pace, this was the only circumstances he'd seen her nervous in. The solution he figured to shut her up was simple, and he followed through with it. He pulled her close to him so that their bodies were touching and captured her lips within his, but he didn't realize that a solution to one problem would cause an even bigger one. He wasn't thinking about the surprise of open display of affection, he was thinking about the inability to let her go once he closed the gap.

Serena was cut off in mid-sentence about something or other, right now she really couldn't remember what it was she had cared about so passionately when the only passion she really had was for her husband. Her thoughts drifted away from her as she became fully engrossed with trying to match the deepening pressure of his lips.

Omura's laugh was the only thing to break through their protective shield of passion as they once again became aware that they were not alone. Following Omura was Gabrielle's giggles, and soon the rest of the kids were laughing too. Turning his eyes to look at the rest of the adults he noticed that they were either embarrassed to be seeing such affection, or amused by it but dared not to laugh, only his father seemed angered at the obvious love between the two.

His mother looked put out at being interrupted, but amazed at the ability that Serena seemed to top her for fast pace in speaking. "Mother,  
I don't want a week long wedding party." He clarified for Serena, who misunderstood most of what was said. "Serena doesn't either as she just told me, she likes the simpler things in life, she's probably bound to be interested in sharing with us our faith, in fact I think she'd find it very interesting to be a part of all the plans so she can learn more about our culture. She was just telling me that herself."

He sent her a look saying 'well it's true, you did want to learn about the culture' when she was going to interrupt him so she could tell him to stop lying. He didn't lie, he just switched around the truth to what fit and worked with him the best.

"That's right." Serena agreed. "I'm interested in learning everything I possibly can."

Toga looked directly at Omura while she spoke this time slowly. "Seems this girl can challenge everybody in their interests."

Serena looked at Toga for an explanation but it was Shane who spoke for the first time since his initial outburst. "She means to say that Omura has a love of different cultures and learning as much as he can about everything he can possibly fit into his head. The amount of time he was gone when he was younger rivals that of Darien's fly the coop mentality since Darien turned 18 and legal to travel by himself. Darien only returns when absolutely necessary." Was Shane's calm explanation looking directly at Serena before he fell back into silence.

Darien had taken a step forward when Shane had started to speak, ready to defend his love and wife, but at the end, Darien relaxed and stepped back again.

"Oh, thank you, Sheik Shane." Serena said politely before her stomach grumbled. "Excuse me, I'm afraid I haven't eaten in a day."

"Then what are we waiting for. Shane, join this side of me with the rest of your family. One of the servants will bring in a chair for you. Serena, come, sit next to me and tell me of your travel. Darien you may sit next to your wife, everybody else can move down." After the order was issued, everybody hustled to move and Shane brought his plate over with him as the empty plate at the end was moved to the newcomers.

"It's all right, we can share one chair, and one plate." Darien spoke mischievously to his great-grandfather.

"You may do that in any other place, but now I don't believe would be a good time." Omura replied back in conspiracy. He straightened as everything was in order and looked to Serena, speaking quietly to her while everybody went back to what they were doing before hand.

"So when did you arrive in my fair country?"

"At the exact same moment Darien did, but he shuffled me off in hiding. I was listening to your story before dinner, it was an amazing tale, was it true?"

"Of course." Omura stated proudly. "I see you've recognized Darien's ability to be less than truthful sometimes. I'm afraid I did wrong with him."

"Hey, I'm a hundred percent honest when it's important, you cannot deny that." Darien defended hotly.

"He also has a temper." Serena corresponded with Omura ignoring Darien's statement like he didn't say it. "Something that came out in your story, how old were you when it happened?"

"I was 17, she was 16. At the time it wasn't rare for us to be engaged, we were going to marry within the year." Omura explained.

"She must have been pretty, your whole family takes after the two of you." She glanced around the table to make her point. "Was she of Italian decent?" Serena asked intrigued.

"Why would you ask that?" Omura frowned.

"Well in your story you said that she was from the third country, that means that she was either from Asia or Europe at the time for you. America I don't believe was part of any Arabic dealings, we were suffering through the great depression and I believe Italians knew English at the time."

"Why would you think it was Italian though, not an English woman, she was of a high family?" Omura tried to decipher her thoughts.

"Because none of the family is of the light variety, Gabrielle might be, but that's not what I mean. Of all the people I can see, I'd expect to see a light head or hair in this family." Serena mused.

"You are so much like her." Omura mumbled. "I never really explained her personality to anybody, but seeing you reminds me so much of her." Omura shook his head. "No, she wasn't an English woman or Italian, she was an American. Her family was of the highest ruling in the country. She came from old money so she wasn't a part of the depression as everybody else was."

"I come from old money too." Serena inserted, her thoughts from earlier coming through. "Maybe I know her family, I could speak to them as well about the past."

"She was the last in her line, there would be no others to speak to. She was part of the Olson family." Serena bit back a grin. "What is it?"

"Well… If you're talking about the disappearance of Camille Olson, then I'm sort of related to her."

"Wait, what?" Darien and Omura said at the same time. "How does that work?" Darien continued.

"Well, her parents were still alive and fairly young, you knew that right Omura?" Serena waited for his answer, it was in the form of a nod.

"They were so devastated that they had to have another child just to fill the void in their hearts. They reared two more children, John Olson and Rose Olson. Now I never learned the details of Camille's disappearance, nobody would speak about it, and except for the pictures at the house of the family I would never have known that Camille disappeared."

"How's that?" Darien asked first.

"Well obviously John and Rose were told about their sister, but the didn't really mention much to their kids. Rose married a man named Ernie Cambridge and their eldest daughter Ireland married my uncle. Ireland had a sister who lived to be 18, and my parents loved her and named me after her, but not quite the same name. They had often called me Serenity as a nickname though. So when we go visit my uncle and his family, I explore the house with their children, my cousins. They don't really know much about it either."

"But I told her family exactly what happened, so why did they hid it?" Omura questioned sharply.

Serena sat back in her chair away from his intensity. "I don't know." She paused. "Maybe, and I'm not trying to offend you or anything, but maybe they were embarrassed because at the time there was a huge out cry of nationality and her coming here would have ruined the family." She suggested as a possibility.

"Perhaps." Omura agreed, thinking more into the possibilities than she could possibly realize.

"So when did your wife die?" Serena asked instead.

"Oh, during childbirth with the birth of my son." Omura stated distractedly. "So you're related to Camille?" His face softened even further, and for the first time seemed to be truly happy again. "Did everybody hear that? We have a relative of Camille's in our family!" He shouted down the table, and they all clapped. "We must celebrate the connection too!"

"But I'm not related to her by blood." Serena instantly corrected.

"All the better, means that you're your own person and Darien's his own person." Omura decided. "And it means Darien doesn't have to worry about his reaction to you being from the same line as my own true love's reaction was."

Serena blushed becomingly and Darien felt his constantly stirred lower region tightened quickly.

While everybody was asking her questions about her connection with the ancient legend, Darien saw his father's scowl deepen and this time the tightening feeling had nothing to do with arousal but everything to do with a gut reaction that something was going to go down. Darien would see to it that Serena was never alone with his father.

Once everything settled down again Omura spoke again to Serena like they were in their own private conference, Serena instantly liked Omura and it showed that the feeling was mutual. "That's most likely why they didn't keep in touch with me, the memories were too painful to remember and I was the main reason for it." There was a tinge of guilt in his words.

"You can't blame yourself, you said that she died in childbirth. There was no reason that they should have treated you that way." Serena comforted.

Omura gaze swung to look at Darien in disappointment. Darien feeling eyes directed towards him in an angry light looked away from his analyzing gaze of those surround him to look innocently at the woman he loved. It usually disarmed her anger right away, but it wasn't his love that was glaring at him, it was his great-grandfather. "I can see Darien hasn't told you everything." The words were bitten out. "I would think after years of hearing about it he'd have more sense then going against everything taught to him."

Serena bit her lip in a frown; her eyebrows came down in confusion. "What hasn't he told me this time? I still don't understand his father's objection to me, is there something wrong with being an American? From the way it sounds, you married one too, and everybody holds you in the highest regard."

Darien looked guilty in the face of his great-grandfather, the only man he ever held respect for. But after years of being out of the desert all the old stories seemed exactly that, stories and his great-grandfather lost some of his esteem. But every time he'd been back to see his Omura before he could make the decision to do something rash, but this time he didn't. This time he didn't want to ruin his relationship with Serena by listening to reason by hearing the story again.

As it was the last time Darien heard the saga fully was the day before he left the first time. After not hearing story for so long it lost all its impact.

Serena sensing that this wasn't the right time to get into that subject so she opted for the next logically, equally tricky subject, doing so delayed Darien from coming forward with an answer. "In your story there was a man." Serena started.

"Higen." Omura helped unnecessarily, once Serena heard a name and a story behind them she was unlikely to forget it.

"Yes Higen, how was he allowed to run wild causing terror to you and your people while your father was ruling?" Serena questioned.

"How are the KKK and other hate groups and terrorists allowed to run wild in your country?"

"Because we don't know who they are and we have laws against interrogating anyone at any given time." Serena supplied.

"At the time, although we knew who was in that group, we couldn't do anything because our country had been split up into two areas. It wasn't until my ruling that the lands were united under my family. The man Higen was not only my enemy, but my father's too, he was older than me by several years, his favorite son was on the battlefield in a battle that I led. It wasn't until years later, after the incident with Camille that I learned this."

"Oh, that's sad, two families at war with each other, in a never-ending cycle that was bound to end in sadness." Serena's eyes lit up as something that was escaping her grasp came to her. "You didn't kill Higen did you?" She asked on a whisper. "Because you knew as long as he lived there would be no peace."

Omura held pain in his eyes. "No, I did not kill Higen, I should have, I would have, but I didn't for the same reason you mentioned. If I did, there would have been no peace between us. We would have been at war to this day. The rest of this shall be discussed after dinner there is much you need to learn after you have agreed to enter this family which should have been disclosed before it."

Serena agreed to discuss this as well at a later time. "Were you happy with your wife before she died?" Serena asked trying to think of something else to talk about.

"I suppose, it wasn't a perfect marriage, but we got along well and after large amount of time there were no more huge fights, we both knew where we stood." Omura shrugged, this time taking the conversation in less rocky grounds. "So where did you grow up?"

Serena smiled at the change of subjects. "Oh." She sighed. "I grew up all over. Until I was 10 I lived in Hawaii, after my father died we couldn't live there anymore and my mother sent me packing to an aunt's in California. For the first 11 years of my life I learned how to surf and was never in a place colder than 32 degrees. After that my grandfather took me in.

We lived in the deep south of new Orleans until I was 15 from there we moved to the upper east coast and there I learned to love the snow. Throughout my life I was surrounded by large amounts of water that it was only natural for me to take a year down in Florida before utilizing their study abroad classes and heading to Japan for another year. Being in Germany was a first for me, because I had never been someplace without being surrounded by water.

Every summer since I was 11 I went to go visit my uncle, Ireland and whatever kids were still living with them at the time. We'd actually head to England, Iceland or some tropical island for a variety. You know spice life up. My grandfather would come as well. We'd made a habit out of it, and this summer I don't know how I'm going to break tradition." There was warmth in Serena's voice as she spoke about the men in her life.

"Why must you break tradition? Just tweak it a little, instead of you going alone with your grandfather to these places they can come visit you." Omura suggest.

"Or she could take her husband along and visit them." Darien cut in bitterly.

"I was going to suggest that to if you had let me finished." Darien had the sense to look apologetic. "So your family didn't know about your marriage either?" Omura questioned ignoring Darien again.

Serena sensing that Darien was feeling left out from his favorite male role model found his hand underneath the table and squeezed it in comfort. Darien didn't receive the comfort well, he pulled his hand away, and Serena switched in her seat to question it.

"I'm not going to take your comfort." He said silently to her in Japanese, a language Omura hadn't gotten around to yet to learn, though it was on his list, so now he could only understand a fraction of what was said from his Chinese lessons. "I deserve every dig he sends my way. I also don't believe you'll be wanting to give me comfort when you find out all that I have kept from you this past month of marriage and year of knowing each other. In fact I believe you will be angry at yourself for even attempting to make me feel better because you will want to throw things at me and hope that I feel rotten."

Now was not the time to be leaning in whispering these things in her ear in any language, because that would give people the pretence of hardly contained romance, something he didn't want to deceive Serena of believing.

Serena though was a step behind him as he spoke, his mind was so large that he could switch from one thing to another with no trouble, but she had to consciously change what she was translating from to something she could understand. Her two years in Germany had her speaking German for most of the time. Before that she had a year of Japanese so it was hard to understand English sometimes. Now she had quickly learned enough Arabic to get her through almost anything in the last six months with not enough time to practice it out. Learning only that amount of time ago that was where he was from. She had learned it to impress him, not to have debates in it so she was struggling to come up with anything to make her sound passable. The sudden switch to Japanese had taken her back a step because she was not expecting it and instantly went through the languages she knew to find the right language first and then to translating the words into something that made sense.

Serena blinked at Darien for a moment before a frown came upon her face as a minute passed before she replied back to him in Japanese.  
"I am not sure I understand your meaning, why would I be furious with you for keeping your family history from me, what is in it that would effect me?"

Darien opened his mouth to say something but Omura beat him to the punch. Omura spoke in English to her this time realizing now that she was having more difficulty with their language than she gave off. "Serena?" Broke through her fast thoughts.

Serena blinked and looked back at Omura, and he took pity on the apparent showing of loss as she tried to keep up with everything and not being told anything at the same time so she had to fill in the blanks herself. "Was?" She reverted back to her most recent submerged language, German and it was pronounced 'vas'.

Knowing that it was probably easier for her right now to speak German while she was so confused he attempted to speak to her in one of his less than fluent languages. So in German he re-asked his earlier question on restated. "I take it your family didn't know about your marriage?"

Serena sighed in relief, any time she wasn't feeling this confused or pressured she would have found it easier to be the one speaking the harder language, but now she was so frazzled she couldn't think straight and Darien wasn't helping with his sudden aloofness. "No they didn't." She answered then she elaborated. "It was such a spontaneous wedding I only had time to round up a few of my friends in Koln and we all flew over to France to get married."

"How long did he give you from the word yes to the words I do?" Omura pondered.

"A day." Serena laughed lightly. "It was all really rushed but it was still super romantic."

"Does your grandfather know about your marriage?" Omura wondered.

"Yes." Serena shook her head. "He was surprised, but not shocked that while I was gone that I'd find a 'nice young man who'd sweep me off my feet'. He was just happy that I had enough sense still in my head to remember to call him about it and not hear it any other way."

"Does he know who you married?" The old sheik had a superior look to him as he mentioned the line of his family.

"No." Serena laughed again. "He knows Darien's name, but nothing more. I didn't even know until the day before I left with him to come here. All he told me was I was going to meet his family before that so I had time to pack."

"We were actually going to go to our honeymoon before I got the call from you and had to switch plans with Sere. She was disappointed, but she was more than pacified when I told her where we were going instead."

"Because she's never been to the Arabian desert before?" Omura teased.

"Nein, because I get to meet the elusive family Darien rarely speaks of, he only talks about you." Serena elaborated.  
At the words Serena intuitively knew it was the wrong thing to say at the moment, there had been some rift between the man she loved and the man he adored. Omura waved off the inherent compliment. "I take it you like Germany, you said you hoped become a diplomat there from the United States."

Serena sighed. "I suppose, I love Germany, but I will have to take it one day at a time, maybe I'll change careers and become a translator instead for a big business or something like traveling to third world countries and helping out there through the U.N." It was a subject she held near and dear to her heart and wished she could not talk about it right now. "Is the Arabian desert the only country that you own? I don't know much about you." Serena admitted guilty. "I didn't have enough time to do anything but learn the language."

"It's all right dear, you did more in that little act than most women do who live here." Omura covered her hand with his. His was a darker tan against her pale one but both stood out against the deep red of the tablecloth.

Serena ate little of her meal once she scooped up the portions out of the serving dish. For some reason the hunger her stomach craved didn't sit well with what she felt like eating. At least the meals here were eatable. Each bit tasted excellent but she didn't notice it with the feeling of impeding troubles to come. "Are you no longer hungry?" Darien asked her coming out of his silence towards her, worry overrunning his self-imposed distance.

"No, I don't think I am." She replied back. "Would you be kind enough and tell me where the bathrooms are?"

That coaxed a smile out of Darien. "Of course. You go out those doors." He pointed to the ones on the other side of the room that they didn't enter and Serena didn't notice before. They blended into the cream colored walls also made of the same wood patter the rest was.

The only difference between the doors and the walls was there were two vertical lines to show that the door moved. "Then you take a left down the hallway and you'll see a green door among the dark blue walls, it's a slight shade difference in the dark, so be careful, there's guards hanging around this palace and they don't take lightly to strangers when they don't know they're here." Darien paused in thought. "Perhaps I should take you?"

"No, I'll be fine, you stay here and catch up with your family." Serena placed her hand on his shoulder. "As for being angry with you later, don't abandon me before I get the chance to calm down and think things through." Serena leaned down and kissed his cheek.

He grabbed her about her waist and pulled her closer to kiss her on the lips. "You're right, I'm sorry." He placed his forehead against hers.

"I'll see you in a few minutes then."

Serena pulled away and headed for the doors when Omura spoke. "Serena, don't go too far, I think we will all be adjourning from dinner shortly. Our family except Gabrielle and Toga will be going to the sitting room, I would appreciate it if you would join us there as well."

"How do I get there?" Serena asked looking at the large group of people before looking at Omura.

"You will have to continue going down that hallway and once you see a brightly lit one and take that until you run across a darker yellow door than that hallway, if you'd enter it you will enter a large room, there's a smaller room on the right, enter it and that's the sitting room."

"What's the larger room's purpose?" Serena asked offhandedly.

"It's the ballroom for small parties or dignitary meetings." Darien answered. "So basically it's never used." Serena nodded in understanding, the smile was in her eyes only as she stomped down it from showing on her lips. Then she left the dining room.

As she walked to the bathroom she could see how a person could get lost easily. There were multiple hallways looking exactly the same veering off into other directions. A couple of times she got confused and almost went down the wrong hallway but decided the best course of action was to continue going straight. Soon there was just the hallway she was in and nothing to distract her from her path. She walked right by the door she was supposed to go into and thinking twice about the strange door she walked back and entered it.

There were bathrooms in it one had a powder pink tinge to it and the other was of darker concords of colors and textures. Serena figured that she was supposed to go into the pink room.

Entering the pink room she was taken aback by the interior. Inside was not as she figured it would be. She was greeted first by the miniature elephant statues constantly streaming out water into a basin that emptied into a water filter. Serena figured that it was where you were to wash your hands.

The stalls themselves were hidden away by pink hard fabric were in the place of where walls usually were. How you entered them was strange to Serena as she walked over to test it out, she touched the fabric hiding the person in it and it slid back to revel the interior of the stall. There, was a pristine jade toilet and automatic flushers. As Serena walked into the bathroom in awe the door slid shut behind her, she whipped around immediately and touched the door again, it wouldn't budge for a minute then slowly opened as her hand touched it again.

It was intriguing she thought as if the bathroom wanted to make sure that all was well before letting her out. It really was a conservative nation she decided. She didn't really need to use the bathroom, but as long as she took the trouble finding the place she may as well use it.  
Exiting the stall she walked to the elephants squirting water and as she placed her hands underneath them the water turned foamy and she rubbed her hands together, before it turned back to pure water.

She looked into her reflection above the elephants and pulled her light blond hair back into a ponytail. She once again realized how well Darien and she complimented each other in looks. While he stayed in Germany for a year it may have dulled his naturally tanner skin from the dark bronze he would surely have while staying in the desert. His hair was of the darkest of blacks and she loved to trail her hands through his hair at every opportunity. She herself was naturally paler and being out of the bright sun for so long had an almost porcelain quality to her looks. They were a pair of lights and darks.

Even their eyes found a way to match each other; his was a piercing light blue that matched the lightest of waters of running rivers. Hers was of the darkest deepest sea blue green that he loved to look into. With his eyes she felt like she was looking into his very soul the same way you'd look to the rocky bottom of the calm riverbed.

Serena lent down and splashed water onto her face and tried to clean all the sand that brushed into her face today. Her eyes felt scratchy and dry and she was having trouble seeing in any light and a headache was starting to form behind them. Serena splashed more water onto her face.

She was finally feeling a little better but still not up to par. She looked around for something to dry her face off with and to the side she found a bin that kept towels at a warmed temperature. Serena had to question the point of having warm towels in such a warm environment but used them anyways to dry of her face and hands. She threw it into the hamper. She realized now that although it wasted a lot of resources it kept everything sanitary.

She exited the brightly lit bathroom and entrance and was instantly submerged into darkness. She looked down both ways of the hallway and unthinkingly turned the wrong way. As she turned around she ran into somebody.


	3. Chapter 2

An: I realize this chapter is pretty short, really short actually, but you have to know when I wrote it I didn't divide it into chapters, so I'm thinking of where would be the best places as I present it. This story is in no means finished but I am posting a few chapters that are done. Plus the last chapter was really long, so I thought this one could stand to be a little shorter.

His hands were up to brace her as his fingers tightened in realization before letting go and backing up a step. "Sorry. What is your name?" He asked gruffly.

Serena instantly leaped to the possibility that he might be a guard. Aware that everything she said would be analyzed she chose her words carefully. "My name is Serena, I'm Darien's wife." She told him in the same language.

The man took another step away as if scared that because he may have offended her his life was on the line. "Where are you heading?" Although his words were said like he didn't believe her.

Darien must have been a certified bachelor, Serena reflected at everybody's reactions. She was lucky to have captured his attention so fully and it made her feel good about herself. "The sitting room." She answered the simplest she could to keep it from getting confusing.

"It is the other way." He told her. "I will follow you to make sure you don't get lost, but it's best if you can find it yourself."

"Oh, thank you." Serena turned around and could feel his eyes following her as she walked. It discerned her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She knew that marrying Darien would result in bringing a lot of attention to her now that she knew that she was the only blond in this country.

A sharp pain in her temples brought her to a halt and she brought her hands up without a second thought to rub them until it went away. "Are you all right?" The guard asked behind her.

"Yes." She croaked out. "I'm fine." And she proved her words by continuing down the darkened hallway and following Omura's directions exactly.

At the outer doors a hand reached out to bar her entrance. She turned questioning eyes to the man that didn't make her feel that entirely safe. "It's not too late for you to leave and go back to your home. It'd be safer for you, and it would be better all around for everybody. You don't realize what your getting into, go home and be happy there." His hand came up to cup her chin in hard fingers that bit into her flesh.

Serena got a good look at the man he was fairly young but older than Darien by a couple of years. Down his left eye was a jagged scar reaching to his chin, but his eyes really spooked her as if she couldn't see his soul in the black murky depths. "I won't leave my husband, I love him." She stated firmly.

"If the sheik wishes it, he could put you to death if you stay. If you go he no longer holds a baring over you, especially if you get the marriage annulled."

"I'm not catholic." Serena shrugged off his warning and removed his hand from her chin. "So getting it annulled would be pointless."

"Just so you know, be warned little princess. A woman of your coloring won't go unnoticed and many people would love to see danger to grace you." The man turned away but threw over his shoulder. "Until we meet again, adieu, third country."

Serena shook off the ominous feeling and entered the main room. Even so far away she could hear the angered raised voices of three men. One of them she knew so well to be her husband's, the other two could only be his ancestors.

"You had no right to bring her here under false pretences!" Omura shouted.

"I had every right, you brought Camille here in the very same way!" Darien shouted back.

"And you know what happened to her!" Omura started. "You also know what will happen with your lovely wife. The only difference between Camille and Serena is that you married Serena before bringing her here."

"It is forbidden for a reason son." Shane's voice was dangerous as he regarded his oldest child.

"It only became forbidden during grandpa's ruling, not Omura's as he had the knowledge to know that you can't forbid something that's meant to be." Darien hissed loudly.

"Don't be so damned obtuse." Shane replied. "It is for the kingdom's safety, as well as any foreign league's. One wrong move and any peril to happen to the U.S.'s child could be disastrous for our economy. The soft bellied Americans aren't designed for the hardship of our lands."

"Hush. Serena could enter at anytime and over hear our argument." Omura cut in with his withering old voice, but it still had an intensely strong quality to it. "Besides, we all know that this is all Darien's fault, but now that it happened, we will take it in stride."

Serena waited a minute before knocking then slowly opening the door and sticking her head inside. "Is it ok for me to enter?" She asked and let drop a portion of what she knew. "I heard loud voices outside the ballroom and knew I came to the right place."

Omura was sitting in a large chair opposite an empty couch. Darien and Shane were standing as far apart as could be, Shane looking positively livid and Darien refused to look at him while he was looking instead at a few books on the wall. At her words

Darien turned around and smiled reassuringly. "Generally it's the guy who gets the 50 questions treatment when he meets the girl's family. This isn't anything like that, you get to ask my family 50 questions."

Omura cast him a look before looking at Serena again. "Please sit, I think I should finish the rest of my story now. Perhaps then you will be able to understand a little of what's going on." Omura was a wise man for he seemed to recognize that she was holding back information as well.

"All right." Serena headed in his direction and sat down on the couch facing him, as it was obvious that's where she was supposed to go. Darien followed her and perched on the arm of the couch to be near for comfort but far enough away so he could make a clean getaway if she decided to start throwing things at him.

This room was bright red with other bright colors interwoven into it to make it feel comfortable and Serena sat at the edge of her seat to hear the rest of the story.

"Where was I?" Omura raked his brains. "Ah yes, I had just given the object Higen so desired to him against the request from Camille not to."


	4. Chapter 3

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"Now remove your guard Higen." Omura demanded, his brown eyes glaring into the other man's challenging him to follow his promise.

Higen raised his hand and the guard kicked the pedestal out from underneath her. The noose did not break her neck instantly as Higen had taunted earlier and she swung they're struggling against it, trying to breath. She was being suffocated to death. Guards formed a line between Omura and his love but he could still see her over their head. Omura swung around to face Higen in blazing anger. "Oops." Higen smiled innocently. "Wrong gesture?"

Omura pulled out a knife from its protective sheath on his leg and pushed through the first line of defense and vaulted over the next two. The fourth obstacle in his way was the hangman himself. Omura wasted no time in slitting his throat and running to Camille's side.

He cut her down and heard the shallow breathing she still managed to accomplish once free of her captive. Omura picked her up and carried her back the way he came, looking at the crowd as if daring them to try him. Higen raised his voice over his people. "Let them pass." The people parted in a wave to form a passage for them to travel. Omura passed Higen at the top of the square. "I have honored at least part of my bargain, that is the most I have ever done for you." Higen hissed. "It is only because I got what I wanted in the end and it wasn't only this object. I'd take care to watch her if she lives past this ordeal."

Omura grabbed Higen by the throat and squeezed. "If you have touched her in anyway I will kill you as soon as I learn the truth. I will not execute her though because my love is strong enough to look past that. She is an American after all." Omura released a gasping Higen and walked back to his white horse and placed Camille on it before mounting it himself.

As Omura left, Higen's right hand man came to his side and waited for Higen's instructions. "They are in the hands of the nomads now, and my rouge warriors, if they survive, it will be of a mystery to me." He had no more hatred in his voice as he left.

His son sat on the steps; his eyes cold as he watched Omura and Camille ride off in a pressing gallop. He turned on his young legs and followed his father into the building to hear how Omura had deceived them like they had deceived him. That was the day things turned ugly.

Omura held Camille tightly to him as he rode the horse to safety his destination was his palace. A warrior jumped out at him from Higen's tribe, and Omura's own defense system appeared out of hiding.

They came with to protect the prince and future ruler of their people. They had agreed to let him arrive by himself for he could handle any hand-to-hand battle no matter how many people were in it.

Omura continued riding past the disturbance as his system easily defeated the threat and this was the norm for the rest of the day. At sun down he finally arrived in his palace grounds and the two of them were helped off the horse. As Omura had time to check Camille once more he found her on her last breath.

"I figured out your honor system." She teased raising her hand to his face. "I love you, I'm afraid you'll have to go on living without me. Don't worry though, anyone with your genes will surely be just like you when choosing a wife, someone they love with their whole heart." She said hoarsely and then she died.

"No, no. Chameleon no, please don't die on me." Omura begged.

The medical terminology pronounced that the rope had crushed her throat and she had died because of that and the long ride in the desert while trying to seek help.

Omura's face turned to pure rage and anger as his love lay dead in his arms. There were only two words on his mind now, Justice and Revenge. Omura jumped up carrying Camille in his arms and handing her over to the burial master proclaiming she was to have a large party to celebrate her determinacy, courage and life and to wish her well into the after one.

That day was the day where war was declared between the two countries.

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	5. Chapter 4

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"Wait." Serena stopped his story there. "Camille died?" Omura nodded. "Then how did she produce any offspring?"

"She didn't." Omura paused wondering if he should tell her the rest in story form or explain bits to her as her mind came upon the questions. Right now it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell her. "I married another woman a few years later as my duty to the crown. She would never be Camille, but I knew I had to honor Camille's last wish. So over time my new wife and I learned to respect and care for each other."

"Did Higen violate Camille?" Serena sat forwards in guarded interest.

"No. She was protected by the fact that she was my fiancée." Omura released.

"Please, go on." Serena was intrigued by the history this family presented, one that she was now a part of.

-----------

Omura had lead the invasion against Higen's country for many months. Omura had become vicious in his pursuit to destroy Higen. Finally almost half a year had come to pass after Camille's death Higen and Omura came face-to-face Higen's young son was with him.

Omura and Higen battled for nearly an hour, their swords clashing ferociously against one another.

The wind kicked up gales of sand and blinded both of the fighters. The son watched on coldly as his father got the upper hand for a minute. When the fight was finally over Omura had both swords and positioned them in a 'V' on both sides of Higen's neck prepared to cut it off.

"Kill me and get it over with." Higen said calmly from his position on the ground. "If you do there will be no rest until I am avenged."

"If I don't kill you, there will be no rest until Camille is revenged." Omura spat back.

"Camille was an American, and there will be unrest from the Americas until everything is settled out here. Killing me is the only thing that can free you of the political upheaval that you started by bringing her here." Higen closed his eyes allowing death to come as a blessing.

"You deserve to die." Omura stated, but his eyes flittered over to Higen's son, and saw that he was watching his actions with a calculating eye and it occurred to him that he'd never be able to kill a child. If he could then everybody would label him a child killer and then he would never be able to keep control over rebellions. If he didn't kill the child but killed the father, then he would surely lead the way for future rebellions against him and perhaps end his family's rule. "But I'm ending the cycle here." Omura spat on Higen in disgust. "Either remove your people from my lands or become a part of my country."

After Omura withdrew the swords Higen raised. "I believe I will stay, with my help my people will become a peaceful society within your ruling and there will be no more wars between us, whereas if I remove my people they'll rise against you of their own will." Omura nodded his agreement. "On one condition I help this mixing."

"I will not give you the object you wish for." Omura stated calmly.

"No, it isn't that, I realize now to receive that object I will have to take it myself." Higen showed a flash of a yellowed smile. "No, what my stipulation is this, my people are against the European descent from evading our lands. They may visit, for I know we will not prosper if we cut them out entirely. Never again shall a blond American female grace these lands as wife or future wife to any of your offspring."

Omura closed his eyes against the terrible agreement for he knew that this would come back and haunt him. But his decision was made for the good of the country. It would mean so many lives were saved verses one life being sent into sadness. "I agree."

Higen and Omura shook hands on it, this time Higen's word was trustworthy for it was concerning his people and Omura had spared his life.

Once they shook on it however Higen's son shot forward. "Father no! He deserves to die, there will be no more of their league if you kill him now!"

"Come along Ahmed, enough blood has been shed." Higen was guiding his son away. "There will now be a peace among our people at long last."

"There will never be peace, not so long as his family is in charge!" Ahmed yelled. "I will destroy your family if it's the last thing I do! Beware Omura I will receive all that is dear to you and destroy you. If it's the only thing I do I will kill you. This shall be my land." Ahmed snarled as he was guided up the stairs too young to fight against his father's hold.

After that day peace came easily between the two people, and reconciliation was achieved between all that were divided in loyalties, but it was a fragile peace.

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	6. Chapter 5

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Omura finished his story quietly. "And all has come full circle with my great-grandson marrying the woman he was never intended to marry."

Serena looked wide-eyed from Omura to Darien then back again. "You mean to say that since Darien married me the peace between your people is going to be destroyed?"

"No." Darien took her hand. "Its more than that. The reason I was called home was because already there have been rebellions cropping up. But we have been able to extinguish them quickly. They started before I married you; they started before I even met you. Higen's health has disintegrated and has lost all hold over his people who now follow his son and grandson. Except a week ago several innocent people were killed."

"So my being here won't affect anything?" Serena questioned hopefully.

"There were more reasons to not allowing a blond American here than the weak threat from Higen." Shane bit out tersely. "You will cause a ruckus with the American delegates if you get even a scratch on you from the rebellions. We are an independent nation free from most ties to other countries, but Europe and America hold big shares in our stocks. If we loose the American backing our economy will turn sour."

"That's why it was forbidden, not only because of the chance at rebellion but also the political aspect of it with the Americas?" Serena asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately no." Omura sighed. "I wouldn't have placed a ban on any of my people marrying a blond American. But one of my people tried that while my son was in power and she was killed in her sleep. So he banned marriages like that. The Arabian Desert is big, I'm sure other people have had an American as a wife. That's where I believe Gabrielle gets her coloring from."

"But you can marry a non-American blond, you can marry a non-blond America?" Serena tested her theory.

"Essentially yes, but except for the royal family and the richer of our people, they don't leave the country all that often to find somebody like that." Omura agreed.

"What was the object that you faked in giving Higen?" Serena changed subjects for a moment.

All three men looked hesitant to answer, finally Darien slid closer to her, accepting that she wasn't going to get angry at the moment, so he was safe. "It is something not many people have seen, I don't think I've ever seen it. It is said to be what is protecting our family from loosing control over these lands allowing our family to continue growing. If it is lost or moved it is said that a great plague will ride over the desert and destroy all living life connected to this land."

"Oh." Serena now could see all the pieces fitting together nicely. "Perhaps I should leave." Serena stood up. "Maybe I should get onto a plane and leave now, never come back here again."

"I am not divorcing you." Darien barked pulling her back onto the chair.

She stared at him with sharp eyes. "Who said anything about divorcing you?"

"What?" The three men asked together, causing Serena to try and hold her giggle at bay with their shocked faces almost identical despite the ages.

Serena turned her insightful gaze to Omura. "Well you said that never again shall a blond American grace this country married or going to marry a man of your offspring, right?" Omura nodded. Serena smiled and looked at Darien. "Well then the answer is simple, I leave, I'm not here, but I'm still married to you. The blond American woman isn't here to destroy your balance or to get hurt to break any social bonds with other countries."

It was a great idea except that she was already brought here, and so the contract was null and void. "It's not so simple." Darien sighed. "I fear though for your safety whether you are here or not now that I've heard the story again."

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7/29/04

EAN: It seems I've run out of chapter's I've already written to upload. When I wrote this back in 04, I wrote this section, then I skipped quite a few pages and wrote a different section, then skipped more, and wrote a different section. I hadn't written the ending, and now I need to go back and fill in the parts I've skipped. So it might be some time before the next installment. But I am writing, so please bare with me.

Thanks for the kind reviews.


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